Monthly Archives: June 2014

I’ve been writing about the dangers of fluoroquinolone antibiotics(cipro/ciprofloxacin, levaquin/levofloxacin, avelox/moxifloxacin, floxin/ofloxacin and a few others) for a little over a year. As my friends, family, and associates have read what I’ve written, their skepticism has waned and many of them have realized that I actually know what I’m talking about when I say that fluoroquinolones are dangerous drugs that lead to destruction of connective tissues and nerves throughout the body. They have glanced at my source articles and noted that there are peer-reviewed journal articles that back up what I say. It feels nice to be believed. It feels even nicer when those people let me know that they didn’t take fluoroquinolones because of the information that I gave them. It’s nice to know that they won’t get “floxed.”

In the last few months, several friends have approached me, asking about alternatives to fluoroquinolones. Here are some of their stories. All their names have been changed, but the stories are true.

This study is important on so many levels. Your participation in the study is important on many levels.

You have the opportunity to TELL YOUR STORY TO RESEARCH SCIENTISTS through the study/survey. The survey has several narrative sections where you can describe, in as much detail as you wish, how fluoroquinolones have affected you. You can tell the researchers about how fluoroquinolone toxicity caused you pain and loss. You can describe how fluoroquinolones have adversely affected not only your health, but also your family, your career, your finances, etc. Your story will be heard. Your pain will be acknowledged and it will be counted.

It feels good to tell your story. It feels good to scream about how wrong it is that your life has been devastated by a drug that is perceived as innocuous. It feels good to be counted.

Through studies like the UCSD Fluoroquinolone Effects Study, the severity of adverse reactions to fluoroquinolones can be quantified. It can be shown that the effects of fluoroquinolones are not transient or insignificant.

If we don’t participate in studies like this one (and report our side-effects to the FDA, and write our story for the Wall of Pain), the researchers, the FDA and all the doctors that are prescribing fluoroquinolones will continue thinking that fluoroquinolone toxicity is rare, and that the side-effects are transient and insignificant. We know that the side-effects of fluoroquinolones are severe, and that many people are adversely affected by them. The way that we communicate this to the FDA, doctors, and everyone else is through participating in studies like the UCSD Fluoroquinolone Effects Study.

When updating the warning label to include the risk of PERMANENT PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY that is associated with fluoroquinolone use, the FDA searched for case studies that were documented in peer reviewed journal articles. You can read the FDA report HERE. They gave far more weight to the patient reports published in journal articles than they gave to the patient reports that they received through the adverse event reporting system (AERS). If you want the FDA to change how fluoroquiolones are regulated, participating in this study is a very good way to push them in the right direction.

Dr. Beatrice A. Golomb, M.D., Ph.D. is conducting the UCSD Fluoroquinlone Effects study. She’s as legitimate as a scientist can possibly get. Check out her C.V. / resume – http://www.fqstudy.info/Fluoroquinolone_Effects_Study/About_Dr._Golomb.html Ridiculous, huh? She accomplished more before she turned 20 than I will in my entire life (and I’m not a total slug). She’s the type of person that can (and hopefully will) change the world. She needs your help in order to do something about fluoroquinolone toxicity though. She needs your story. She needs your data. Please give her the information that she needs in order to stop the absurd way that fluoroquinolones are prescribed.

On top of Dr. Golomb’s huge list of accomplishments, she’s an incredibly upstanding and ethical scientist who refuses to take money from the pharmaceutical companies. She speaks out against the corruption of the medical system by entrenched conflicts of interest with the pharmaceutical industry. Here are a couple of informative links about Dr. Golomb and her advocacy work –

Dr. Golomb is moving medicine in the right direction. She is calling out the pharmaceutical industry on the harm that their products are doing to people. It is fantastic that a research scientist of her caliber has taken an interest in fluoroquinolone toxicity. Please help her by completing the survey that is part of her study.

Sure, it will take a couple of hours and it’s tough to do with brain fog. But it’s important. It’s really, really, really important.

Vioxx has been removed from the market, and the use of Thalidomide is severely restricted. Fluoroquinolones, on the other hand, are prescribed with abandon, despite the fact that hundreds of studies have shown that they do severe cellular damage and thousands of patients have filed reports with the FDA noting that a variety of severe health problems have been experienced after taking a fluoroquinolone.

Transgenerational Side-Effects

I have argued that fluoroquinolones have transgenerational ill effects and that children are suffering because of the epigenetic effects of fluoroquinolones (HERE and HERE). I have never hoped to be wrong about anything more than my assertions that fluoroquinolones are related to autism, but the possibility exists – because we really don’t know what the transgenerational effects of microbiome destruction and depletion of mitochondrial DNA are – and fluoroquinolones do, indeed, both obliterate the microbiome and deplete the only non-redundant form of DNA that we have – mitochondrial DNA. (1)………………………………..

Per NBC News, “More than 80 people may have been exposed to airborne anthrax bacteria in an embarrassing mishap at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and the numbers may go even higher, officials said Friday.

“Right now we have an excess of 80 individuals,” CDC deputy director Dr. Ileana Arias told NBC News. “We expect that number may even grow … because we’re trying to make that available to as many people as possible in order to make sure there are no adverse consequences to health of any of our employees as a result of what happened.”

Not good. A breach in protocol has endangered the lives of at least 80 people. I’m sure that the people exposed are terrified. I’m sure that they’re willing to take whatever antibiotic they are given to either treat or prevent an anthrax infection.

Cipro will likely be given to many of them.

This is the comment that I’m making on any news source article I see on the topic –

I’m betting that a good portion of these scientists will get “floxed.” Floxed is a short-hand term for fluoroquinolone toxicity syndrome – a severe adverse reaction to a fluoroquinolone antibiotic – cipro/ciprofloxacin, levaquin/levofloxacin, avelox/moxifloxacin and floxin/ofloxacin. Cipro is getting pushed HARD as a treatment. Cipro and all of the other fluoroquinolones cause severe cellular damage through disruption of the mitochondrial DNA replication process, dramatic increases in oxidative stress, lipid disruptions and depleting vital intercellular enzymes.

Doxycycline can also treat anthrax. It’s pretty benign. Doxy is a bacteriostatic antibiotic and Cipro is a bactericidal antibiotic. Bactericidal antibiotics damage mitochondria.

Saying that you can either take Doxy or Cipro is kind of like saying that, in order to wake up in the morning you can drink coffee or shoot meth. Sure, both will wake you up, but one has significantly fewer consequences than the other.

I hope that the people exposed look at the 43 page warning label for Cipro and demand something else.

Getting floxed isn’t fun. Adverse effects like peripheral neuropathy, severe anxiety, insomnia, weakening of every tendon in the body, etc. can be permanent.

Perhaps some people will see this post too. Feel free to copy and paste what I wrote anywhere.

I started www.floxiehope.com one year ago today – on June 20, 2013. It’s my floxiehopeiversary / blogiversary / siteiversary. A drink will be had to celebrate.

In the year that it has been up, Floxie Hope has had 177,547 page views from, I dunno, a somewhat smaller number of individual viewers. I have argued that the number of people that have seen my articles is close to the number of page views for Floxie Hope because I publish a large portion of my articles on other sites – www.hormonesmatter.com and www.collective-evolution.com. I have no idea how many people have viewed my articles on those sites, but I like to think that the number of page views on Floxie Hope is a close approximation to the number of people reached. 177,547 people reached in a year – not too bad, if I do say so myself.

Most people need to hear a message a few times before they believe it to be true. Some people heard about the dangers of fluoroquinolones for the first time through something that I wrote. Some people heard it a second or third time, and started to believe that it was true after reading one of my articles. Some people went back to the Links & Resources page of Floxie Hope and noted that there are hundreds of peer reviewed journal articles on the dangers of these drugs. Some people looked up the sources that I cited and realized that I may actually know what I’m talking about when I say that cipro, levaquin, avelox, floxin and the other fluoroquinolones are dangerous drugs that are hurting people on a cellular level. The message is sinking into people’s consciousness one viewer at a time.

I’m pretty pleased about the number of people reached. The word is getting out.

An amazing community has been formed on www.floxiehope.com. If you look through the comments, you’ll see that wonderful, intelligent, insightful people have provided support and encouragement to their fellow floxies on Floxie Hope. I am so pleased and honored to know each person who has shared his or her knowledge and insight. Your words of wisdom and your encouragement are greatly appreciated!

I have come to consider the people who I correspond with about fluoroquinolone toxicity to be friends. My floxie friends are strong, resilient, interesting, thoughtful, smart, generous people that I am so happy to have in my life. 🙂 I’m sorry that we have come together in the way that we have. But alas, some good can come from bad, and the relationships between floxies are as valuable and precious as any other relationship.

The feedback that I get from the people who have been positively affected by Floxie Hope keeps me going. I hear from people who let me know that the information on Floxie Hope has given them guidance, direction, and, most importantly, hope. I tear up with joy when a friend tells me that an article that I wrote helped him to convince his doctor not to prescribe fluoroquinolones frivolously; or when I hear that what I wrote has helped the family of a floxie friend to understand what she is going through; or when I hear that the message of hope and resilience that I am trying to spread saves a relationship or even a life.

I’m glad that I could help.

You are not alone. None of us are alone in this struggle. We have each other. It’s an honor to be part of a community of people that supports and cares for its members. None of us ever wished to be a part of the floxie community, but it’s nice that while we’re here, we have great people around providing encouragement and support.

A year ago today, I started Floxie Hope because I knew that I needed to hear stories of hope and healing when I was sick and terrified. When I was sick, I needed to know that some people recover and I needed to hear that I would be okay. I ended up getting that message from other places, and through time, trial and error. Now people can get that message through this site. The stories of hope, healing, perseverance, strength, etc. that are on Floxie Hope have helped so many people, and I am so thankful to everyone who has provided their story. You are all appreciated!

I think that I have been successful in making Floxie Hope a place where people can gain hope and help. It couldn’t have been done without the rest of you, so I thank each and every one of you who has helped by reading, sharing, commenting and/or writing for Floxie Hope.

The next step will be to make change. There is nothing that is okay about people getting hurt by fluoroquinolones. Fluoroquinolones are dangerous drugs that should not be used frivolously. The fact that they are being used frivolously and that they are hurting people is wrong. It is a problem and it needs to change. We, as a community, will make it change. We have the truth, and quite a bit of scientific evidence on our side. With some perseverance, intelligent strategy and luck, we’ll make it happen.

Advocacy is something that can be done when you have your strength and health back. Those who don’t have the strength or health to advocate need hope. I hope that you gain hope from this site. It’s what it’s here for.

I wrote my recovery story about a year ago. A lot changes in a year, so I thought I’d write an update.

I was pretty well recovered when I wrote my story. In most areas, I was about 95% of my pre-flox capacity. I could do most of the physical and mental things that I needed and wanted to do to with relative ease. I could walk, hike, do pilates, swim, dance, work, have good conversations with my friends, maintain relationships, etc. I was healthy enough and life was good. I would have felt fine about staying in the condition that I was a year ago indefinitely.

It has been a nice surprise that I have continued to get better. Little things have improved/gone back to how they were pre-flox.

I started sweating again. I was kind of enjoying not sweating, but it’s good to have that part of my autonomic nervous system working normally again.

I stopped being cold all the time. I had a hard time feeling warm for a long time after taking cipro. Sometime in the last year my body has gone back to its normal – being “hot blooded” (I’m Swedish).

I feel like I felt pre-flox when drinking coffee and alcohol. It’s difficult for me to describe how I felt different after having caffeine or alcohol while I was sick – but it just felt different – and now it feels normal again.

I went through a period of nausea in the last year. For a couple of months, I couldn’t eat without feeling nauseous. I’m not sure if the nausea was because of a break-up that I went through right before it started (lots of people don’t eat for a while after a break-up), if it was a floxing symptom, or if it was a combination – my digestive tract shuts down now when I go through a period of stress. Whatever the source, it went away when I started supplementing hydrochloric acid (HCL – stomach acid).

I also had some issues with feeling a tightness in my chest that went away when I started supplementing HCL.

My mental capacity is as good as it was before I got floxed. It may even be better than it was pre-flox. I had no interest in biochem before I started researching how fluoroquinolones work – now I read biochem articles for fun, and they’re making me smarter. Also, my writing has gotten better – which is nice.

My energy, endurance, flexibility and strength have continued to improve. It’s difficult to tell if I am capable of as much physical activity now as I was before I got floxed for a couple of reasons. First, I am a bit out of shape. I have an office job so I sit for 8 hours a day. That’s not good for anyone’s physical fitness. Getting floxed certainly didn’t help, as it left me completely sedentary for a while and semi-sedentary for a while after that. Second, I was in really excellent physical condition before I got floxed. I’m not sure how fair it is to compare myself to how I was 2.5-3.5 years ago because I was really fit at that point in my life. Anyhow, those are details. My point is that I’m doing well physically. I can keep up with my boyfriend (who has never touched a fluoroquinolone) while hiking, swimming, etc.

I still struggle a bit with my motivation. I felt like cipro stole my “give a damn.” I’m very passionate about exposing the dangers of fluoroquinolones, and about helping people through fluoroquinolone toxicity, but I still struggle to “give a damn” about other areas of my life. It’s getting better though.

My level of fearfulness has subsided over the last year. (It had actually improved tremendously a year ago when I wrote my story – it was horrible when I first got floxed – I was terrified.) It has taken a long time for me to convince myself that this isn’t going to kill me. I can’t say that the fear about the consequences of the cellular damage done is completely gone. But I can say that I feel good right now. It’s not going to kill me today. Today, I’m doing well.

Diet – I am not on any specific diet. I avoid junk food but other than that, I eat whatever. Food does affect how I feel, but I don’t think that it affects how I feel any more than it did before I got floxed.

Supplements – I’ve switched out my supplements a bit. I still take iron (Pur Absorb 5 mg/day) and I still think that it helps me a lot. I also think that magnesium (250 mgs. Chelated mag/day) helps me. Lecithin helped to clear my brain fog. Hydrochloric acid (HCL) helped to get rid of my nausea and heartburn. I also take a fish-oil supplement, chlorella, glucosamine, vitamin D3, vitamin K2, coenzyme Q10 and a probiotic.

Food Supplements – These supplements are actually food, so I’m putting them into a different category from the supplements. I think that all of them have helped me a lot. Brewer’s yeast – it’s full of B vitamins, amino acids, trace minerals and has things like uridine and iodine in it that are helpful. I think that brewer’s yeast has helped me a lot. Cod liver oil – full of good fats. Raw crushed garlic – for the thiamine and other nutrients. Beets – they make me feel better (nitric oxide??) – do NOT get scared when you pee/poo purple after eating beets.

Exercise – I still find pilates, swimming and walking to be very therapeutic. I haven’t been as diligent in sticking with them this year as I was the year before.

Meditation – I still think that meditation is a wonderful thing for everyone to do. I have gotten horribly lazy about doing it myself.

Acupuncture – I go to my acupuncturist about once a quarter now. I was going at least once a month previously.

Staying off the internet – I’ll give myself a big fat F- on this one. Being involved in floxie stuff over the internet doesn’t induce anxiety for me any more though – so I don’t think that it’s unhealthy for me that I concentrate on it too much.

Having a positive attitude – I think that I’m still doing pretty well with this one. It has been wonderful and touching to have a group of positive people commenting on this site – letting their fellow floxies know what they know – and everyone encouraging each other and having faith in the notion that this too shall pass. I thank everyone who has supported a floxie through their time of need with a positive attitude and/or words of wisdom.

As I have gotten healthier and healthier, I have become less diligent about doing the things that helped me to get to a place of health. It would probably be better for my continued health if I was more diligent about sticking with them. Oh well. I think that it’s relatively normal to get lazy about doing the things that you did to get healthy once you have reached a point where you feel healthy enough.

I consider myself to be 99-100% recovered.

I am very, very, very lucky.

I wish luck, healing and recovery for all of you! I know that a complete recovery is not possible for everyone, and, well, read this about partial recoveries – https://floxiehope.com/2014/03/05/redefining-recovery/. I like the quote at the end of it, “Healing doesn’t mean the damage never existed. It means the damage no longer controls our lives.” If a full recovery isn’t possible, I wish you a recovery in which the damage no longer controls your life.

I am incredibly grateful for everything that I have gained in the last year. This site has reached more people, and touched more lives, than I could have possibly imagined a year ago. More people have read, and cared about, my healing story than I ever could have imagined. I hope that it has helped you. I hope that this follow-up, letting you know that the improvements have continued for me, give you even more hope for your own healing.